Re: Bourbons from the Same Line: (Blind) Comparative Tastings and Thoughts

Blind tastings are THE best way to taste bourbon. It really allows you to hone in on what you like and why you like it. When conducted with others, it can really help to identify what you look for in a bourbon. The descriptions fellow bourbon tasters discuss blindly can really provoke some "aha" moments. I've learned just as much from guys with "weirdo" tongues as I have from guys with "fellow" tongues.

Re: Bourbons from the Same Line: (Blind) Comparative Tastings and Thoughts

It would be interesting to hear if anyone had done this with all of the bottles of a standard mainstream scotch lines (e.g. Macallan). I can think of a few professional or semi-professional reviewers who engage in this basic approach; I think David Driscoll did the Johnnie Walker line pretty recently. But, crucially, they don't do it blind. I'm telling you, the combination of the bourbons from same line and blindness is powerful.

Now that I think about it, I have definitely read a non-blind tasting on this site covering all of the PVW bourbon releases. [I can't remember the title...] While the non-blindness (awareness of the bottle label) definitely affected perception of the whiskey in the glass, I think that the poster picked the PVW 15 as his favorite over the PVW 23, which runs at about 2X + the price of the 15. And, IIRC, the poster explained how the experience exposed his preference for moderate wood and relatively more vibrant palate flavor instead of more delicate flavors and deeper wood influence.

Re: Bourbons from the Same Line: (Blind) Comparative Tastings and Thoughts

Originally Posted by squire

Through blind tastings I've even awoken the senses of a few die hard scotch drinkers.

See, I would think that this would be difficult because of the very noticeably different (maybe not better) character of scotches versus bourbons. I believe you, and admire you for pulling it off, but I would think that people would entangle themselves in their own pre-existing notions about scotch versus bourbon. That people would recognize the scotch flavor profile, fall back on their previous assumption that scotch is better, and decide that the scotch tasting sample was better regardless of the actual taste of either the scotch or bourbon sample.

Pretty much the same thing happens to me when I try to blind taste, say, Four Roses products against Heaven Hill products or Wild Turkey products. I just taste the different brand / flavor profile and fall back on a priori beliefs about what I like better. That's why I'm starting to comparatively blind taste products from the same line.

Re: Bourbons from the Same Line: (Blind) Comparative Tastings and Thoughts

CoMo, the trick is to do a double-blind experiment- in this case, YOU'RE double blind. Have someone else pour all the samples for you and have no idea what they've poured. Yeah, sometimes you can nail the specific "house touch," but sometimes it's interesting to see what you like in this type of format.

Originally Posted by SMOWK

I like to save up the charred bits in the bottom of the unfiltered stuff. When I have enough, I pour milk on it and eat it.

Re: Bourbons from the Same Line: (Blind) Comparative Tastings and Thoughts

Originally Posted by ErichPryde

CoMo, the trick is to do a double-blind experiment- in this case, YOU'RE double blind. Have someone else pour all the samples for you and have no idea what they've poured. Yeah, sometimes you can nail the specific "house touch," but sometimes it's interesting to see what you like in this type of format.

First of all, good call with the double blind (I think this is not exactly a technical / scientific double blind, but I totally get what you are saying). We have been having our wives pour for us in another room and hand them out in random order, but we always knew what the choices were. We should get a set of 7-8 options on the table and say, "pick three at random".

Second, good point with the 'noticing different house touch can be interesting too'.That's true; when I did FRY against EWB and EC12, for example, I determined that I liked the sweet, spicy, fruitiness of the Four Roses better than the sweet wood char w/ vanilla of the Heaven Hill products (especially prominent in the EC 12). It's just harder to make generalizations like 'higher proof is usually more important to me than higher age' when you are dealing with different flavor profiles.

Re: Bourbons from the Same Line: (Blind) Comparative Tastings and Thoughts

Got it.

Though applying the principles of a true 'technical' double blind would also be interesting. Get three bourbon drinkers together and have the first two blind sample a number of bourbons and write down tasting notes and assign a number. Then, have the third guy (someone a least a little familiar with bourbon flavors) search the tasting note sheets for patterns that the first and second drinkers might not have intended at all. For example, maybe the third guy notices that the first drinker always describes higher proof bourbons with adjectives like 'good' and 'satisfying'. This might indicate that this first drinker really likes higher proof better - regardless of the various number values he assigned those high proofers.